If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Had to have been

Is this sentence correct:
"There had to have been a reason why she didn't want to talk to me, and I prayed it was because she was trying to protect Sachs."
I think it has to be either "There had to be a reason ..." or "...why she hadn't wanted to talk to me".

Re: Had to have been

"There had to have been a reason" is fine. It is similar in meaning to there must have been a reason. The speaker or writer is speculating on something that has already happened. (The verb tense is, I think, past perfect progressive.)

Perhaps somebody else will offer an additional comment or two. In any case, that usage is perfectly fine.